Ministers plea with employers to reconsider the wage subsidy scheme

Government Ministers are pleading with employers to reconsider making employee's redundant at this time. 

An additional 283,000 have applied for the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment scheme, with 16,000 businesses applying for the employer wage subsidy scheme as of Friday March 27.

It is estimated that the economic fallout from this pandemic will send Ireland back into a recession, with the economy estimate to shrink by 7.1%.

Therefore, employers are asked to only temporarily make their staff unemployed, instead of on a permanent basis. 

There are a range of governmental supports in place to help employers keep integral connections with their employees at this time, and temporarily let go their staff.

For employers maintaining their staff, the primary support includes:

• A temporary wage subsidy of 70% of take home pay up to a maximum weekly tax free amount of €410 per week to help affected companies keep paying their employees. This is the equivalent of €500 per week before tax.

Within this subsidy scheme, employers will be able to claim back 70% of your employees wage, if you have lost 25% of your trade.

Additional schemes for those who have lost their job due to Covid-19 include: 

• workers who have lost their jobs due to the crisis will receive an enhanced emergency COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment of €350 per week, an increase from €203.
• Self-employed will be eligible for the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment of €350 directly from the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection.

The combination of the above schemes is estimated to cost 3.7 billion over a 12 week period in Ireland.